My 2015

As I always do at this time of year, I've put together a lookback at my 2015. It's been an odd and testing year but I'm remaining more positive than I thought I would about 2016. I've not really accomplished much in terms of my goals for the year because quite frankly they were the last thing on my mind but again I think 2016 is going to be a much better year for me to accomplish things and focus more on myself and the good things in life than the struggles and other things we all have to deal with.

Blog

I'm super pleased with how my blog has grown this year, I really couldn't be happier with it. I've posted nearly 350 posts this year, which is almost one a day, and I honestly think it is some of the best and highest quality content I've ever put out. My readership has grown from looking at my analytics and my confidence in what I write about has surged. This has, and always will be, my little space on the internet to write about the things I love, whether it is a new band or a great meal. It's awesome to see the interaction from readers and bands, brands and the people I feature on here. I also want to thank all the PR's who have gotten in touch with me this year for sending across great music and awesome opportunities and as always it has been a pleasure to work with each and every one of you. I hope to spend more time working with you in 2016 and beyond.

Though, as this blog grows, I see myself making some improvements to it and I'm considering migrating my content across to Squarespace as I love the aesthetic and the simplicity of the platform. I truly believe that you reap the benefits of what you sew when it comes to blogging and the more time, energy and love you pour into your blog, the greater the benefits are in terms of opportunities, followers, greater readership, forming connections etc. So I think 2016 is hopefully going to be another big year for the blog, I'm going to build on what I have already and make it better so that I'm even more proud of it and you guys enjoy reading every single post.

Travel


The hasn't been much travel this year for so many reasons and it's a shame because I love travelling and I want to see as much as the world as possible. However, I have been to a couple of places this year and though only one of those was out of the country, I've still had a good time everywhere I went and most importantly, a relaxing time. In March, me and my boyfriend went to Budapest, it was the very first holiday we'd been on together and I loved it. We were only there a few days but I really adored the city and its laidback culture. There was so much on offer to see and I really do think we made as much of our short amount of time there as possible, from boat trips to visiting castles, plenty of walking, tasting the local cuisine and partaking in quite a lot of partying, I think we well and truly soaked up the culture in our time in the city. I'd love to go back to Budapest soon as I feel like there is a hell of a lot of the city left that I want to explore and I'd love to revisit the places we went to to experience everything all over again.


We also visited North Yorkshire and Bridlington this year. The first was for a mini-break as a late Valentine's Day treat for the two of us which was a perfect little retreat away into the countryside where we could just spend a lot of time relaxing and enjoying each other's company. While the second was a surprise for my boyfriend's 30th which was a lovely night away for the two of us. We spent the day partaking in seaside treats, walking along the seafront and visiting arcades, while in the evening we went for a lovely 3 course dinner followed by a few drinks just to celebrate the start of a new decade for him and again it was just nice to get away from Sheffield for a bit and take in some sea air.

I may not have visited that many places in 2015 but I loved the places I did go to and I plan on making the most of 2016, though I may not have the time and money to visit everywhere I want to go all in the next 12 months, I plan on at least seeing and visiting places I've always wanted to visit that fit within the time and budget constraints I have.

Music

This year hasn't been the best or the worst for music for me. There have been some great albums out which I've really enjoyed and I've discovered a lot of new acts, many of which I've shared with you over the course of the 12 months. But I feel like I have been somewhat disconnected from music more than I have ever been this year. Maybe it's because I've been so busy and stressed that the time I have had I've dedicated to acts I'm writing about for this blog but I feel like I've not had time to really take in new albums or take a couple of hours to delve into the ethers of the internet to discover new music. I'm hoping this is something I can change in 2016 and spend more time on music and listening to it for pleasure rather than always for work.


In terms of gigs, I've hardly been to any this year, again due to not having any time for it. I saw The Maccabees at the beginning of the year and The War on Drugs in the summer. Both of which were absolutely brilliant gigs and shows that will stay with me a long time. I've seen a lot of local acts this year and I also attended the 6Music Celebrates show in Sheffield which was a really good night. Also, I went to Y Not festival in the summer with my boyfriend and some of his friends which was a great weekend packed full of some great music from acts I've never seen before to new discoveries. It was nice not to see all the same bands you normally see on a bill at this festival and spend time enjoying new acts whether new discoveries or just the first time seeing them.


New Developments

In terms of new things that have happened this year, there have been many changes, like there always is when you are an adult but the biggest development of all has been getting a job. My first full time, adult job. I am now a Profile Developer for Social We Talk?, a small Sheffield based social media management and web design company. I currently manage all the social media accounts for our clients along with other roles such as the occasional bit of website design and photo editing etc. I completely love my job and though I have only been there for just under a month, I know that this is something I want to stay doing for a long, long time. I definitely feel like I've been lucky dropping on such an amazing role in a small company that I can hopefully help to grow in a position I can make my own and that I love. I think it's difficult to find the job you love doing especially when it is your first job and to have accomplished that, is just pretty special.

That being said, I do still love my blogging, I always have and I always will but I think in 2016 though I want to commit further to my blog and build it even bigger, I will have less time to commit to it as I'm be working nearly a 40 hour week. With that in mind the content I put out may not be every day or 6 days a week like it has been and I will be much more selective in what I share when I do post but hopefully that will mean the quality and the content I do share will improve making it a better experience for you guys. I plan on posting at least 4 times a week still and building on that as and when I can. I hope you will stick with me through these changes where I mess about with exactly how much blogging I can manage around my job. You've been great in following me this far in my blogging journey and I'd love it if you could join me further into the future. Thanks for being such a great bunch that read, follow, comment and share this blog!

Lookback at Targets for 2015:

- maintain my weight, exercise and healthy eating
- be happy, be appreciative of the little things in life and treasure the good moments
- spend time with the people in my life who mean a lot to me and less time with or worrying about the people who are not good for me
- travel more, see the world and appreciate just how beautiful nature is
- do more things that inspire me, teach me and that make me happy; whether it is career related or some sort of life fulfillment, do more of it and go in with an open mind ready to learn
- read more books, watch more films, master my skills and learn new ones

Looking back at my targets for last year, I think I've done pretty well with them all really. In terms of my weight, it has been a little all over the place this year but ultimately I've remained the same, healthy, eating well and exercising plenty. I've been reading more books, enjoying the cinema more and making good use of my time this year by working on skills I already have and learning new one which I was I planned on doing. However, when it comes to travel, I never really got much opportunity to travel this year for lots of different reasons but hopefully that will change in 2016.

Something I really wanted to work on was being more appreciative and taking more time out for myself this year and I think I have done that a lot more this year. I'm still not perfect with this and I still feel like there is much more work I can do in making sure that I make time for myself but that is something to work on in 2016. I've also tried to make sure I spend time with the people I care about the most in life and I really think that is something I've put to the front of my priorities this year and for good reason because these are the people I care about the most and seeing them as much as possible is something I always want to do and will always be working on.

With all that in mind, I'm going to make my 2016 targets about myself and my work again because I think they are the most important things to me and something that I constantly want to work on so having these targets to work towards throughout the year will really push me to doing more of the things I want to do anyway.

Targets for 2016

- now that I have a job I want to spend the year working hard and really building my role into something even better than it already is.
- make sure I do things to the things that make me happy all through 2016 and put myself first as much as possible when it comes to making decisions.
- learn new skills and build on the ones I already have, old or new.
- maintain my healthy eating and exercise regime and lose a little bit of weight over the year.
- treasure the good moments and good people in my life, always.
- maintain this blog as much as possible around my job and improve/grow it even further if possible.

So here's to 2016 and all the happiness and success it will hopefully bring. Thank you for sticking by this blog for yet another year, your continued support means the world to me. I wish you all a happy, healthy and successful 2016!